FEATURE: Erie Neighborhood House Continues to Assist Families in Need

The Blackhawks Foundation continues to provide vital assistance through the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund. And the Erie Neighborhood House has been one of the worthy beneficiaries during this devastating pandemic.
The organization, which assists immigrant and low-income families mainly in Chicago's South and Southwest sides, has adapted to serve its community in a new way due to social distancing mandates.

Eswin Giron, a site director of the school-age program, recently experienced one such social distancing scenario after delivering much-needed money to a struggling family.
"For me, I appreciate everything (the Blackhawks) do. Especially during this time when families are really struggling with everything," said Giron, 55, who grew up in Guatemala and became a part of Erie Neighborhood House 25 years ago. "We had one case where we gave one grandma cash. She started crying and tried to hug me. And I said: 'You know, right now we can't do that. I appreciate you. I love your family and everything, but we have to be safe.'
"She said: 'Thank you, God bless you.'
"So one of the kids gave me a piece of cake. I accepted it because the family gave it to me with a (good) heart. I said: 'Anything you need, anytime, you can call me at night…I will do my best to help you guys.'
"It's heart-breaking."
Giron said he is willing to do whatever he can to help suffering families.
"Today I went to two different families because they did not have money to buy the masks," he said. "I tried to make the masks with the t-shirts and I went this morning to show them how to do it. It was nice to see the families but they are struggling. They are afraid. That affects me so much because I have been knowing this family for years."

Cheryl Philip, Senior Director of Development and Communications for the Erie Neighborhood Foundation, cannot overstate the impact the organization has on the communities it serves.
"We are an organization that works with people of all ages," Philip said. "We offer comprehensive support including early childhood and adult education, citizenship & immigration legal services, health and wellness programs, and more. These programs empower the people we serve to build powerful communities. "
The Blackhawks Foundation supports the mission of the Erie Neighborhood House.
"We are so incredibly grateful for the Blackhawks Foundation's support. With this support to our Community Relief Fund, we're able to provide some relief to our families who need it most," Philip said. "Through our application process, we at the most can support a family with $600. That might not seem like a lot to a lot of people, but it is a great relief to our families that are participants.
"We continue to aggressively fundraise. And we are incredibly thankful for our relationship with the Blackhawks Foundation and the ways they continue to support us, because it will take institutional gifts as well as individual gifts to meet these needs."
The Erie Neighborhood House has two locations to serve needy families in West Town and Little Village.
Many of the families who are helped by the organization have been unable to benefit from the recent stimulus checks from the federal government.
"Many people we serve are undocumented and therefore have extremely limited access to public funds of any sort, whether it is happening at the city, state or federal level," Philip said. "The Erie House Community Relief Fund is financial support for these families to meet their basic needs, whether it is providing some sort of rent relief, providing groceries for their families or helping on utility bills or helping on transportation."

Joel Rosales, 29, also a site director for the school-age program, took part in the Erie Neighborhood House program as a child, so he can relate to the plight of the families he is assisting now.
"My parents actually signed me up for the school age program as a child and my parents took English classes there," Rosales said. "It was a big benefit for them and for the whole family. My dad also took citizenship classes and got his GED from there."
Now Rosales wants to give back.
"That is the reason I wanted to come to Erie House to work for them, because I know it impacted my life," he said. "Because during that time, my parents didn't have that many resources. Being a part of Erie Neighborhood House gave me the opportunity to go to summer camp for a whole week and to come back and talk about my experience of camping. Or also to go to multiple field trips during the summer. Different museums, water parks and other outdoor activities. My parents couldn't really afford that at all."
Like all of us, the employees at Erie Neighborhood House are eager for the pandemic to subside.
"In-person is vital to everything that we do. Our work is typically done face-to-face between our participants and our programming staff," Philip said. "Through the coronavirus pandemic, we've modified our services to continue to serve our community remotely through legal phone consultations, virtual counseling and support groups, online workshops and demonstrations, and virtual tutoring and education."
Rosales agrees that the current epidemic has exacerbated the everyday problems of this vulnerable population.
"I hope this epidemic ends soon so that we can go back to the centers and enjoy programming with the kids," he said. "I want them to have the experience that I had."